Tragedy 2,000 Miles Away
by Nopride4531
Summary: AU. Balthazar and Castiel interfere with Gabriel and Lucifer's confrontation... It doesn't end well for one of them. Warning: Major character death. No slash. Takes place in 5x19 Hammer of the Gods.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is my third fanfic. Warning: death! Fic. Castiel and Balthazar interfere with Gabriel and Lucifer's confrontation… It doesn't end well for one of them. Almost completely AU and no slash. Just brotherly love. Takes place during 5x19 Hammer of the Gods. I'm still new at this so don't be too harsh!**

**Title taken from the Green Day song Westbound Sign**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or any of its characters. In no way am I profiting from this story.**

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Gabriel felt the blade of the sword pierce his chest and pain seared throughout his body. He saw Lucifer looking down at him with what seemed like… Sorrow? Regret? But it didn't matter. The older archangel could feel all the regret he could take. It wouldn't change a thing. He would still have to kill his younger brother, who he'd raised ever since he was a fledgling.

"Amateur hocus pocus," Lucifer said as he watched the image Gabriel had created disappear. "Don't forget, you learned all your tricks from me little brother."

That was the moment Gabriel knew he was finished.

"_Hey_!" A voice shouted from behind him and Lucifer looked up.

_Father_, Gabriel prayed. _Please, please no. Not him!_

But it was. To the youngest archangel's dismay, his brother, Balthazar, was standing there, holding an angel blade in his hand. Lucifer regarded him with little surprise. After all, he'd helped raise him too. And even though that didn't matter now, there would always be that one spark that called itself brotherhood buried deep within the Devil's heart; no matter how cold it may be.

As Lucifer released his hold on him, Gabriel collapsed to the floor, the blade still buried in his chest. Balthazar briefly glanced at him with what seemed like concern but then quickly returned his attention back to Lucifer. The Devil shifted from foot to foot, not quite with unease, but with anticipation as the British angel took a step closer. He quickly held the blade up when he saw the fallen angel advance as well. With his arms raised in an open, 'peaceful' gesture, the Devil spoke.

"This is really, really touching," he said. "And I certainly didn't expect it from you."

Balthazar chuckled and positioned himself so that he was in front of Gabriel. The Trickster immediately felt pride fill his body as he thought, _I taught him that. To protect his family_.

It was ironic that in order to protect him, he was going to have to kill one of them. And it could be twisted into other things as well; different people mean different views.

"Aren't you the one that stole Heaven's weapons?" Lucifer asked, tilting his head slightly.

"That would be me," Balthazar said with another chuckle.

"Kudos to you then."

Lucifer smiled and took a step closer, putting his arms by his sides. Balthazar held his ground and raised his knife threateningly.

"But if you'll excuse me," the Devil said and looked down at Gabriel. "I have business to attend to."

"As do I," a third voice said and Lucifer spun around, a murderous glare in his eyes.

"You!" He said and faster than any of them could detect, pulled the blade out of Gabriel's chest.

Barely holding back a scream of pain, Gabriel watched with darkened vision as grace and blood flowed from the wound. He saw Balthazar staring at him in horror and the snarky angel moved to kneel next to him, but was sent sailing across the room with a flick of Lucifer's wrist. He crashed into a few tables before hitting the wall and stopping. Gabriel turned his ever shrinking attention to Lucifer, only to find that he had his back to him. As his vision darkened even more, Gabriel could just barely make out the bottom of a tan trench coat.

_No_, he thought desperately. _Cassie can't be here too_!

Not two minutes later, there was another loud crash and a terrified scream of "Balthazar!" Turning his head, Gabriel could see the blond angel struggling to get to his feet, a look of sheer panic on his face. Then the darkness completely obscured the youngest archangel's vision. The last things he heard were two screams: one of sorrow, rage, and terror, the other that could only be that of a dying angel.

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When Gabriel managed to open his eyes, his mind registered two facts: Lucifer was nowhere in sight and therewere burnt wing impressions of the floor. As he slowly sat up, Gabriel also took note of the shape the room was in. Tables and chairs were overturned and glass was shattered everywhere, as if someone in a blind rage had destroyed it without so much as a second thought. Dreading what he was going to find, the archangel shifted his gaze to the burnt wings and followed them to the angel they belonged to.

With something that rivaled a sob, Gabriel scurried on his hands and knees to his brother's body. As he pulled the young angel into his arms, he felt tears make their way down his cheeks. He gently ran his fingers through his brother's hair, whispering words of comfort in Enochian and clutching him tighter to his chest.

"Cassie," he whispered and began to cry uncontrollably. "No no no no no no no."

He held Cas for the better part of three hours, watching as the hotel morphed from five star into negative sixteen star. As his sobs turned to small whimpers, Gabriel suddenly thought of something else.

Balthazar.

He looked around for more wing impressions or anything that would signal another dead angel. To his relief, he found nothing. He knew that Lucifer hadn't taken him. There's some company that not even the Devil can keep. No, if he'd wanted him dead, then he would've killed him along with Cas.

Carefully, Gabriel rested his brother on the floor and stood. He wavered slightly because of the still healing stab wound and clenched his teeth against the pain. When he looked down at Cas again, the wound felt like a mere pinprick. Feeling tears well up in his eyes, he backed away a few steps until he was sure he'd be able to fly.

"I'll come back Cassie," he said. "With Balthazar. I know that you'd want him to be here... I promise."

After warding the hotel with sigils so that no angel could get in, Gabriel spread his wings and took flight. As the hotel faded from view, he managed to see markings etched into one of the wooden beams directly above Castiel's body.

_Is tragedy 2,000 miles away?_

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**Alrighty. I hope you liked this chapter! Chapter two will be up within the week. And don't think I'm a monster for writing this! (That's what my friend called me). It broke my heart to write it. Please let me know how I did (hint hint, *cough-review-cough*)**

**-Nopride**


	2. Chapter 2

******Alrighty, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

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In the end, tracking down Balthazar wasn't as hard as Gabriel thought it would be. All he had to do was follow the destruction. His younger brother had left a trail of broken trees and even a few overturned cars. It all led Gabriel to a restaurant in Arcata, California, where he saw him sitting at the bar, absently drinking a glass of bourbon. He approached warily and took a seat next to him when the younger angel did nothing.

"I'm probably the last person you want to see," he began.

"Save it, Gabe," Balthazar cut him off without looking at him. "I don't want to hear it."

Gabriel signaled the bartender and then put his hands in his pockets. After requesting whiskey, he sighed and asked the question that he desperately wanted answered.

"What happened?"

Balthazar glared at him for a brief moment, but then looked back at his drink.

"Don't ask questions you already know the bloody answer to."

"Balthazar..."

"Well what's there to say? He killed him. There's nothing more to it."

As he looked at his brother, Gabriel couldn't help but notice that his eyes were slightly red and a little swollen. With a feeling of pure shock, he realized that Balthazar had been crying. He _never_ cried; not even when he'd been a fledgling. He'd always had this mask that he used to cover his emotions... And Gabriel had admired him for that. He still did.

"Why did you leave?" Gabriel quietly asked.

"Why did you stay?"

"I was kinda, ya know, hurt."

"Why would I stay? It doesn't matter."

Gabriel sighed irritably, but reminded himself that Balthazar had been Cas's brother too. The archangel remembered how close they were. Although he would never admit it, Balthazar's greatest fear was losing Cas. He'd done everything to keep that fear from coming true, but now it seemed that everything hadn't been enough. And as this realization dawned on him, Gabriel also got the answer to his question.

"He disappeared for a moment, but then was behind him," Balthazar said as he stared off into space.

"Cas realized he was there before I did."

Gabriel shuddered as he remembered his youngest brother's terrified scream. Clearly, Balthazar remembered it as well, for the glass in his hand acquired a dangerous crack.

"I couldn't get up in time."

"Balthazar..."

"If I'd just been faster..."

"It wasn't..."

"When he stabbed him, it was like he stabbed me as well. The only thing keeping Cas on his feet then was the knife. When Lucifer left, I caught him before he could hit the ground."

("_Cas! Cassie! Hey! Look at me!_")

("_B'lthzr_...")

("_Shhh don't talk. You're going to be fine. You're..._")

("..._B'lthzr_...")

( "_What?_")

Gabriel was silent as Balthazar finally turned to look at him, eyes filled with unshed tears.

"You know what his last words to me were? 'Don't kill him.'. Can you bloody believe that?"

"Balthazar."

"I mean, what kind of request is that? How can he expect me to not kill him?"

"Balthazar!"

Gabriel grabbed his brother's shoulders and lightly shook him. This attracted a few curious stares from people in the restaurant, but they soon went back to their business. Balthazar looked at him, shooting another one of his famous glares. But after a few seconds, it twisted and he put his face in his hands. Light tremors began to shake his shoulders and Gabriel awkwardly put an arm around him.

"Balth! Balth hey! Hey! It's okay. It's going to be okay."

"He's gone," came the barely audible reply.

("_Cas_," _Balthazar said as he held his younger brother in his arms._ "_Stay with me. Please, Cassie, come on don't do this!_")

(_Cas only looked painfully up at him as blood began to leak from the corner of his mouth. He winced and suddenly let out an ear-piercing scream. Balthazar shielded his eyes from the bright light and screamed as well, feeling tears fall. When everything died down and he looked at his brother once again, he saw the impression of a wing burnt into the floor._)

(_After closing Cas's eyes with a shaking hand, Balthazar gently set him down on the floor and stood_...)

(_It was all too much._)

"You need to go back with me."

Gabriel's voice startled the younger angel out of the memory. His head snapped up as he turned to once again glare at his brother.

"Like hell!" He hissed, voice wavering a little.

"Balthazar please. I can't do this alone."

"Tough."

"Please... For Cassie."

"WHY DO YOU EVEN GIVE A DAMN?" Balthazar exploded as he stood, the control he'd managed to keep all this time finally slipping away. Several people turned their heads to look at them and the restaurant fell almost completely silent. "You seemed as if you couldn't care less about us the day you left! Now you expect me to believe that after all his time, you suddenly want to play the big brother role?"

"I raised you two!" Gabriel shouted, standing as well. "Dad was gone, Mike and Luci were tearing at each other's throats, and we have no idea who the hell mom is!"

"You left me to look after Cas alone! Some older brother you were!"

"Oh and you played the role so perfectly!"

"At least I never took off one day with no explanation other than 'Can't take it anymore.'"

"At least I didn't get him killed!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Gabriel knew he'd gone too far. Before he even had a chance to take it back, Balthazar threw a punch and caught him in the jaw. Gabriel stumbled into a few stools before grabbing ahold of the counter and holding himself up. No one in the restaurant made a move to restrain either of the two, wisely deciding that whatever this was, it was between them.

Balthazar glanced around before turning on his heel and walking out. Gabriel shut his eyes and absently rubbed his jaw. And as the talking once again resumed in the restaurant, he could just barely hear the radio above it all.

"Is tragedy 2,000 miles away?"

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**Hope you liked this chapter! #3 will be up soon!**


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